


a house where no one can ever come

by singlemalter



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, M/M, Phone Calls & Telephones
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-25
Updated: 2019-06-25
Packaged: 2020-05-19 12:28:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19357027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/singlemalter/pseuds/singlemalter
Summary: Max makes a call.





	a house where no one can ever come

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a casual prompt in the F1 Discord.

This is a first for him, wanting to protect something so feeble at all costs. He doesn’t know how he ended up like this, swallowed whole by an all-consuming passion, after years of being told to be uncaring and ruthless. Shit, he’s really doing this, isn’t he?

He scrolls through his contacts with a sour expression. He’s dreaded this call for the past five years or so, yet he never thought he’d be the one to make it. 

He hits the _mobiel_ button and steels himself.

“Kom op, fuck,” he groans. After three rings, a crackle comes through the speakers. “Marko?”

“Max? It’s early, isn’t it? You’re usually slacking during this time of day.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Max dismisses. “This is important, do you have a minute?”

“I’m always making time for you, am I not?” Marko scoffs. “What is it?”

“I’m taking an offer from Renault.”

Silence. Max’s ribcage tightens, a crushing grip on his chest. He breathes out and relaxes into the comforting hand on his thigh. 

“Is this a joke?”

“Why would I joke about this?” Max can’t staunch the anger bleeding into his words.

“Because Renault isn’t competitive,” Marko says, “and most of all, because you can’t do this without telling Christian. What’s your father going to think? Are you out of your mind?”

Max interrupts him. “Please let me talk for once. I’ve talked to Christian. And my dad.” The latter’s a blatant lie, but Marko doesn’t need to know. “I’m going. I’ve signed the contract.”

“How much did they offer?”

“Doesn’t matter,” he sighs. Truth be told, it’s a hefty paycheck—Cyril had assumed it’d be harder to coax Max out of Christian’s stronghold—yet it pales in comparison to the one thing Red Bull could no longer offer him. Not like Marko’s ever going to know that. 

“Well. You are a talented young man,” Marko tells him. “This isn’t the way to go to further your career.” 

“Okay, goodbye,” Max says, tired of the venom, the politics, the disturbing quiet inside the garage week after week. 

He hangs up.

A wave crashes over him, elation and anxiety and God knows what else. He turns around and Daniel’s there, legs crossed on the sofa, as starry-eyed as he’d been when they first met almost a decade ago. 

“It’s just us, now,” Max says. He cradles Daniel’s face with shaky hands, pulling him closer to bump their foreheads together; _I like talking to you, but to no one else in the whole world._

“Jesus,” Daniel laughs, his breath tickling Max’s lips. “I can’t believe you told the old man to _shut up_. You’re insane.”

“I am. Mate, we did it,” Max says, still jittery. He runs the tips of his fingers over Daniel’s stubble, desperately whispering to himself, _this isn’t a dream, this isn’t a dream, this isn’t a dream_.

“Told you it’d be right, we’ll be right,” Daniel murmurs. He tilts his head to kiss Max, hungrier, more reverent than ever; and Max believes him.

**Author's Note:**

>  _Find me a house where no one can ever come. I like talking to you, but to no one else in the whole world_ is from a letter by Virginia Woolf, 1925. 
> 
> Max and Dan have actually known each other for almost a decade; they met when they were 14 and 22 respectively.
> 
> I’m still singlemalter on Tumblr.
> 
> I posted this mid-lecture. Sorry for any weird typos!


End file.
